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Ore. AG: Philip Morris to pay state $56 million

The Columbian
Published: January 16, 2012, 4:00pm

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon attorney general says Philip Morris USA Inc., has agreed to pay $56 million to a state crime victims fund after more than a decade fighting punitive damages awarded to the family of a Portland smoker who died of cancer.

The decision follows an Oregon Supreme Court ruling in December that rejected the tobacco giant’s challenge to a portion of the punitive damages from a 1999 case.

Under Oregon law, 60 percent of punitive damages go to a state fund to compensate crime victims and the rest goes to plaintiffs. Philip Morris paid $61 million to the family of Jesse Williams in 2009 while continuing to fight the state’s share of damages.

Officials from Richmond, Va.,-based Philip Morris and the company’s Oregon lawyers did not return calls seeking comment.

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